- Health Min. Planning Unit has made categorical submissions to the Finance Min.
- Mgt. Services Dept. notes that the process is time-consuming
Government doctors have urged the Health Ministry to carry out a cadre revision before they make any decisions with regard to strengthening primary healthcare services within the country.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, the Assistant Secretary of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA), Dr. Hansamal Weerasuriya yesterday (29) lamented that the Ministry had carried out a cadre revision last in 2015 while a partial one was made in 2018. The cadre was suitable for the functioning of the State health service at that time; none have been done since, he said.
Dr. Weerasuriya said however that with the expansions in the medical field and the increasing number of units and specialised hospital complexes being opened in the Government health service, there is an urgent need for a cadre revision. “Further, there is also the added burden of medical practitioners leaving the country for foreign job opportunities with the remaining cadre having to cope with the increased workload as a result”. Citing an example of the situation, he said that although a new ‘Bone Marrow and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Unit’ was inaugurated by the incumbent Health Minister, there is a pronounced shortage of medical officers for the smooth functioning of the said Unit.
He noted that there should be a proper assessment carried out as to how many new units and ward complexes had been opened and a needs assessment should be done. “Although Governments have changed over the years, a majority of doctors in the Ministry have only been shuffled and promoted, and therefore, they are aware of the situation”. Dr. Weerasuriya said that it was time that action was taken to review the situation and conduct a cadre revision in a bid to advance with the expanding health service.
Sources of the Planning Unit of the Ministry who are responsible for the task, when contacted by The Daily Morning, said that steps had been taken to submit cadre revisions of not only the medical fraternity but other health service categories to the Department of Management Services (DMS) for approval. The provincial lists are submitted by the relevant Chief Secretaries. However, to date, there has been no response from the DMS, they claimed, alleging that the said Department was dragging its feet over the submissions from the Ministry and the provinces.
The Director General of the DMS of the Finance, Planning and Economic Development Ministry, W.S.K. Liyanagama, when contacted, told The Daily Morning that it was a job that could not be done hurriedly as the cadre revisions should be carried out for the provincial Governments and the line Ministry. “It is a long process that cannot be accomplished in a hurry,” he said.